Which was Intel's first CPU to require a cooler?

[ElFenix]

You said they don't actually "cool" anything. If it gets hotter without a fan, and cooler with one, that seems to indicate it does cool. Why does it need to cool below ambient for it to be considered "active"?

I suppose if you want to get super technical, it's not the "active" part that is the issue, but the "cooling" part. Its a lot easier to say active/passive cooling vs active/passive heat dissipation

iirc that was the bright line shortcut that separates active vs. passive, the ability for the technology (in a proper implementation) to get some part of the system below ambient. then you're actually moving heat, rather than just relying on (though helping with) natural convective/conductive/radiative processes.

 

[cytg111]

IIRC intel never made a 486 dx2-100.

AMD part, I had it. But IIRC it was dx-4

 

[ultimatebob]

IIRC intel never made a 486 dx2-100.

Yeah, it was a DX4-100. Nice processor, as it could outrun a Pentium 66 in a bunch of benchmarks.

 

[bbhaag]

Weren't the 486's the first? Most OEMs just glued a heatsink to the top. The POD's were the first ones to ship from Intel with a fan though right? I have a POD83 in my Socket3 system and it looks like the heatsink and fan were an all in one package from Intel.

 

[nopainnogain]

If I remember well, my AMD 386 DX-40 was bare.

 

[Prime2515103]

My first computer was a 100Mhz Pentium with a heatsink but no fan.